After several Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) subscribers took to the social media platform Twitter to complain about several online facilities being inaccessible, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has now clarified that most services have been restored.
However, two of the most popular, commonly-accessed facilities — EPF e-passbook and the UMANG app — are yet to get back online.
“All services except Member Passbook have resumed operation. Member Passbook and UMANG are under maintenance. ‘Know Your Balance’ facility through missed call and SMS is operational,” EPFO said in a flash message on its website.
Also read: The Moneycontrol EPF Guide
You can check your EPF balance by logging on to the EPFO member portal using your UAN (universal account number allotted to your account) and password. The other mode is to send an SMS ‘EPFOHO (your) UAN’ to 7738299899 from your registered mobile number. You can also give a missed call to 9966044425 to know your balance. The latter two modes are operational at the moment, the EPFO’s message says.
This writer successfully checked her EPF balance using both routes on April 25.
Earlier, users had aired their grievances about all the services offered by the social security organisation being inaccessible. “All EPFO services are under maintenance from EPFO department,” said a message flashing on the EPFO website (www.epfindia.gov.in).
The EPFO responded to users assuring them that the issues would be resolved soon.
Also read: EPFO announces 8.15% interest rate for 2022-23; here's how the rate gets fixed
Not the first time
Users faced similar challenges while trying to access various services in January 2023. Despite assurances from the EPFO that the complaints would be attended to, the e-passbook facility was restored only after a few days. Access through the app, too, was barred temporarily due to a technical glitch.
UMANG is a government of India digital initiative to access various government-based services. Usually, it is easier to access EPFO statements through the UMANG app rather than EPFO member portals.
Such constant interruptions in service in the digital age do not reflect well on the mammoth organisation, which manages the retirement funds of over 60 million people, say industry watchers.
The EPFO passbook is a crucial service as it displays your EPF account balance, month on month. It shows you the employer’s monthly contribution, the employee’s monthly contribution and more importantly, the interest credited by the EPFO every year.
The EPFO e-passbook facility is very popular as member-employees frequently access it to ascertain their EPF balance and the status of interest credit for the financial year, among other things.
